By Pritish BehuriaThe Daily Northwestern
Northwestern got off to a slow start against Michigan State in its first-round match in the Big Ten tournament Thursday.
With the doubles point tied at 1-1, the No. 2 team of seniors Matt Christian and Willy Lock was down a break.
The Wildcats needed something to spark a comeback.
And they got it when Lock and Christian, who played most of the season at No. 1, battled back to take their match 8-6 and seal the doubles point for NU. The comeback paved the way for a Cats revival and a 4-1 victory over the Spartans.
“We had to fight really hard at No. 2 doubles and came from a break down,” coach Paul Torricelli said. “They did a really good job and the move to No. 2 doubles has been good for them.”
The Cats were facing a completely different lineup than the Spartans team they beat 5-2 in Sunday’s match.
Michigan State’s top player, Nick Rinks, was back in action after missing the match at NU, and won both his matches in his return.
Rinks teamed with John Allare to defeat the Cats’ pairing of freshman Alex Sanborn and sophomore Marc Dwyer at No. 1 singles, 8-4.
He also won the Spartans’ only point of the match when he beat Lock 6-4, 6-2 at No. 1 singles to end Lock’s three-match winning streak.
“If you have your No. 1 guy back in, it makes a huge difference,” Torricelli said. “They won No. 1 doubles, significantly improved No. 2 doubles and Rinks was too good for Willy in No. 1 singles.”
At No. 3 doubles, senior Christian Tempke and junior Juan Gomez stretched their winning streak to five matches when they shut out the Spartans’ Tyler Sauerbrey and Britton Steele, 8-0.
“It was important they won quickly,” Torricelli said. “It was good to get that win and it put us in a commanding position ahead of our singles matches.”
The first win for the Cats in singles action came quickly, when Sanborn beat Steele 6-3, 6-1 at No. 5.
The Spartans clawed back to 2-1 with Rinks’ win.
Then, Christian fell behind in the first-set tiebreaker at No. 4 against Michigan State’s Scott Rasmussen.
But Christian saved six set points to come back and take the tiebreaker, 11-9. He then won the next set 6-0 to give NU a 3-1 lead.
“His comeback was the key for us in taking control of the match,” Torricelli said. “It took any advantage from them and gave us the momentum.”
Dwyer clinched the Cats’ place in the next round, beating Allare at No. 3 by a score of 6-4, 6-3.
Torricelli said Dwyer had a steady performance throughout the match and was always in control.
In the quarterfinals, NU will face No. 1 seed Ohio State. The Buckeyes have gone 10-0 in the Big Ten this season and blanked the Cats 7-0 earlier in the season.
“The odds are against us tomorrow and we’re clearly the underdogs,” Torricelli said. “This is a dominant team and you can’t go in with a realistic chance but it’ll be the seniors’ last match and a good chance for the younger guys.”
Reach Pritish Behuria at [email protected].
